[live review] Lil B @ the Middle East

The
internet is a cold and faceless place where actions rarely have
consequences. For example, if Youtube user shermrock18 wants to leave a
comment to the effect of "yo who in﻿ the fuck like this bullshit ass
rapper ya'll must be on crack" on LIL B's video for "(INFAMOUS) Princess BASED FREESTYLE PT.2," he or she can.

Or if BigEdaDon0316VGgang wishes to levy his/her opinion of his video for "D.O.R.(Death Of Rap)," have at it. Free country. ("u
swaggin bruh? I THINK NOT! naw lil b raw tho he just aint swaggin. And
what's up﻿ dat nigga mixtape called "I'm Gay" . That is not how to
spread positivity lol" -- in case you were wondering.)

And that's why in an interview from this week's issue,
when the Based God told me, "People love me, people hate me, people
respect me, people are in denial to love me. I'm one of the biggest
artists to emerge from American history, and I'll remain that," I
believed him, at least on the former part of that statement. When you
seemingly exist solely on the internet, people will fling vitriol in
your direction without hesitation.

But
last night it was all love. You'd have to be a pretty big hater to
spend $20 on a ticket to a show just for the sake of trolling in person.
And when he emerged from the back stairs of the Middle East to the
dissonant chords of "Last Of The Basedworld,"
he received a pre-show pop like I've never before seen at a concert.
The place was shaking, despite the fact that it was technically in a
basement.

His
reputation concerning his live shows is spotty at best -- marred by
between song ramblings and a tendency to play cuts that no one really
wants to hear for the sake of being perceived as "out there" -- so it
was really a pleasant surprise to witness him deliver on every account last
night.

Handling
his own material without the aid of a hypeman, he ran through
90-minutes of songs people actually wanted to hear, with "Ellen Degeneres"
being this writer's personal highlight. He could've kept going too.
There was a feeling that nothing in his set was pre-planned. His DJ
was just queuing up random instrumentals and letting Based God knock
them out the park.

When
he took to the stage, he was rocking a mean mug, running through each
song back-to-back and keeping the asides to a minimum. But by show's end
he was in the crowd, doling out hugs and assuring everyone that he
would be in the back of the venue after the show for a #rare photo op.

Probably
what I love most about the Based God: Despite an occasional front
emitting a faux-tough guy persona, he really is one of the most positive
artists working today. And while I'm not yet willing to declare him one
of the biggest artists to emerge from American history, maintaining
that positivity will go a long way towards him remaining one of the
biggest artists to emerge from internet history.

Way
up top is a collectible video for "Durty Pop," and below is some ramblings
concerning world peace followed by an aborted attempt at "Cold War"
followed by a song that I didn't recognize. Forgive me, he has "a
thousand, damn near two thousand songs."